Archive for Aomori sushi

So now you can come to Aomori-City from Tokyo by direct Shinkansen service!! I have to tell you that the new JR Shinkansen station, Shin-Aomori station is located in the suburbs of Aomori-City and tourist attractions are still centered around JR Aomori station. February is the worst month for winter weather, and if you are not a enthusiastic skier or snowboarder but happened to visit Aomori in this season, I recommend you to find indoor activities easily accessible from JR Aomori station. BTW do you like Sushi? If so I’d like to introduce a very popular spot for lunch where could be one of the fun places to visit.

Uh, no English signs…but this red signboard and the blue flags will help you to find this building. It’s only 6-7 minutes walk from JR Aomori station. This is “Aomori Gyosai Center”, literally Aomori fish & vegetable center.

Let’s get inside…this fish & vegetable market has 3 aisles and consists of 38 shops selling freshly caught fish along with vegetables and cooked dishes. If you are a sushi or sashimi lover, you will find out this place is a dream restaurant as you read this article.

First, find one of the three shops hanging this orange sign where you can buy a bowl of rice (regular: 100 yen / large helping: 150 yen).

This is a regular rice bowl with an optional topping of Shisho(perilla) leave(10 yen). You will occasionally find Shiso leaves in Japanese cuisine as a garnish or for flavoring. Shiso is known with its antibacterial effect and that’s why sashimi is always garnished with Shiso. I simply like the taste of Shiso.

Next, go around all the shops and find this blue flag, which means the shop is selling bite-sized slices of raw fish, fish roe, scallop and other seafood delicacies.

Just point at the items you want to buy, and if you can say “Kore kudasai(I will take this)”, that will help to communicate smoothly with the sellers.

The seller puts what you pointed in your bowl, and you pay by cash right after you buy something. Basically you can buy 1-3 slices of fish meat with 100-300 yen(depend on the kind and quality), 1 scallop with 100 yen and 1 small container of sea urchin with 200-300 yen.

And this is my Sushi Bowl I made for myself ……ta-dah!!!!

My Sushi Bowl cost ONLY 1,100yen. Unbelievably reasonable!!! If you eat this in sushi restaurant it will definitely cost 3,000 yen!!

You wanna know their names ? Okay see below :)

After completing your customized Sushi Bowl, you have to find a place to eat. Tables and chairs can be found between the shops and at the corner of the building. I couldn’t get my seat at the most comfortable eating area because all the seats were full….wow.

But I could find the table next to the shop. Chopsticks, soy sauce, wasabi, tea, paper cups are provided on the table.

While I was writing this blog at the office, my co-worker saw the image of my Sushi Bowl which made his mouth water (haha). As he was eager to go to this market for lunch soon, we actually visited this market today. I know my Sushi Bowl for today is totally different from the last one and not decorative at all, but I wanted to tell you that you can also buy cooked food like crouquette or crab cake for your Sushi bowl.

It cost me only 670yen. Do you think 300 yen for 1 piece of fatty tuna is a bit pricey? No it’s not. If you eat this at a Sushi bar you will obviously be charged over 1,000yen. If I didn’t buy the fatty tuna, I could make my sushi bowl even more cheaper. So it’s up to you how much you want to spend for your Sushi Lunch Bowl.

I said this market is a dream restaurant. The clue is some chefs of high-class sushi restaurants in Aomori purchase ingredients from this market. So we can actually eat great quality Sushi Bowl with a wholesale price!

One of my co-workers said she wanted to come to this fish market for lunch every week.

This Make-your-own-Sushi-Bowl is called “Nokkedon” and it is definitly worth a try if you come to Aomori-City. The market is lively and crowded with Japanese tourists even on weekdays. Sellers in Aomori are very kind and not greedy to the tourists, and I bet you won’t be cheated or ignored just because you don’t understand Japanese. Come and enjoy Nokkedon!

Aomori Gyosai Center

1-11-16 Furukawa, Aomori-City

Closed: Tuesday

Open Hours: 7 am – 5 pm

Please note credit cards are not accepted in this fish market. *Cash(JPY) Only*